For people who work from home it’s an undeniable fact that getting things done is absolutely challenging. Luckily, there are tons of tips and tricks to solve this lack of productivity and when you implement it, this can be very beneficial to you as a person and to your creative business.
6 Productivity Tips For Busy Solopreneurs
Plan Your Day
“Failing to plan is planning to fail.” This is so true especially if you’re running an online business. The key here is to plan your day ahead.
Spend some time before you sleep, get your journal and write down every tasks that you need to complete the next day. Always start with the most critical task because you have the most energy 2-4 hours after waking up.
Have your own working space
It may seem fun to work in your bed all the day but that is not helping you to become productive. I know your bed is cozy and comfortable but you need to realize that bed is intended for sleep and not for work!
The best way to discipline yourself is to get a dedicated work space outside of your bedroom. It doesn’t need to be fancy – a clean flat table and comfortable chair will do. This will help cultivate your creativity and boost productivity plus a cup of your favorite beverage will always help.
Read Next: 7 Ways To Manage Your Time Like A Boss
Get Dressed
It may seem like an overkill but getting dressed with casual clothing while working from home is definitely a must if you want to boost your productivity. This doesn’t mean that you need a suit and tie or a dress but something like polo shirts and jeans. Remember, the key here is NOT to be too comfortable.
When you run an online business there will be times when you need to video call a freelancer or a potential client – and of course, you want to be taken seriously, right?
Create a Functional Schedule
You need to set a schedule based on your priorities. And it’s super important especially if you work at home. Remember, you’re the boss here so you need to be functional at all times or else, opportunities will fly out of the window! You can set your schedule to 9 hours with one hour for lunch break.
In your schedule, consider what time is the peak of your productivity. Ask yourself if you get more important things done in the morning, afternoon or at night. This is because not everyone is a morning person and you also need to consider your priorities – do you have an important meeting at 8:00 am? Make adjustments if you need to.
Read Next: 13 Insanely Pretty Bullet Journals To Kill Procrastination
Automate your time consuming tasks
Now, I want you to think of tasks that seriously eats up your time. Believe it or not, these tasks not only cost you time but it definitely cost you money. Let’s say you spend 3 hours to create graphics for your new blog post. What if I told you that creating a template for your graphics can reduce that 3 hours to 15 minutes? Incredible!
Also, if you’re struggling to find time to always update your social media you can take advantage of free scheduling tools that will save you A LOT of time while giving you the results you want. I personally like Tailwind as it comes in a free trial and what I do is just choose a schedule and I’m done! And my recent life saver, ConvertKit which I discovered through a Free Webinar. Just think of the MANY more important things that you can with the time you saved.
Eliminate distractions as much as possible
Once you started working, remind yourself that “you mean business” why? It’s so easy to get distracted. The internet has made it even difficult to focus because a click away will put your productivity in vain!
To solve this problem, determine what are the things that distracts you from getting things done and take the necessary actions. Let’s say you are researching for a new blog post when an email pops up, of course you will check on it, click on it and see? your now out of track!
What I did to combat this scenario is I will put my smartphone on airplane mode, close all the unnecessary tabs in the browser and leave the things that you need to complete the certain task. Doing this will greatly help boost your productivity.
Caroline
Great post, thank you for sharing! I will have to incorporate some more of these into my routine!
xo Caroline
http://www.calijae.com
Karate and Caviar
Totally agree with all! The most surprising one is really ‘to get dressed’. It does make a huge difference in productivity! X
Morgan Anderson
SUCH GREAT TIPS. Thank you so much for sharing these! I’m gonna have to try the getting dressed one…hahaha!
Janica Khemlani
Hello Morgan! You need to do that asap lol! Love to see you here 🙂
Brittany Ferrell
These are really helpful tips. I work from home as a teacher and blogger and I am trying to be better about dressing in “real” clothes! You are right, when you are “too comfortable” you might not be as productive plus you feel so “blah”. I am also going to work on creating a template for my graphics!
Janica Khemlani
Hey girl, love that you enjoy this post! I can soooo relate to the “feeling blah” jammies aren’t our besties when it comes to biz! LOL! And yes – definitely go go go with the templates for grahics you’ll thank yourself for that 🙂
Robin
Couldn’t agree more with these tips – awesome resource, bookmarking it for the next time I get distracted!
Janica Khemlani
Yaaay! Thanks Robin! I so need this too for myself haha
Erin Lane
Love this! I work from a home office, so getting dressed for the day was a huge struggle for me! I also tend to dip out to ride horses and hit the gym throughout the day, so I fall into a habit of wearing riding clothes or yoga pants and a workout top all day long, but I have noticed that when I make a point to do that stuff first thing in the morning then put on a sassy outfit and a little makeup, I feel a massive difference in my productivity and confidence!
love these tips 🙂
xx
http://www.sweetsuccesssociety.com
Janica Khemlani
Heck yes!!! So happy to know that works for you too! Sometimes the little things does makes the biggest difference 🙂
Krista Dial
Couldn’t agree more on getting dressed and planning your day. I’ve found when I get ready and feel like I look presentable I’m SO much more productive. Looking forward to checking out more posts on your site.
Janica Khemlani
Happy New Year Krista! I also love to add some makeup to my face as prt of getting dressed lol it makes me enjoy my day even more. Feel free to read through the blog and don’t hesitate to let me know if you have suggestions or questions 🙂
Brittany Ritcher
Love this! I love to use the Pomodoro Technique to minimize distractions. I set my phone timer for 45 minutes of concentrated work, followed by a 15 minute break. Repeat until work is done. 🙂 It keeps me focused when Facebook/Instagram/Other Distractions are calling!
Janica Khemlani
Oh love! I’ve started using Pomodoro technique too and will dive in more this year. It’s been amazing so far. Happy it worked great for you. Happy New Year Brittany!
Claudia H. Blanton
I am also a firm believer in automation – there is only so much time during the day – batching some tasks, and handing it over to either an assistant, or a tool is an awesome way to get more done. Blessings!
Janica Khemlani
Hi Claudia, happy new year! So happy to know that you also love automation! It’s my life saver 🙂
Lauren Norton
These are great tips! It is so hard to get out of pjs when you are working from home but it really does help. I’m so glad you mentioned that – not many people do.
xoxo Lauren I Glitter & Grandeur
Janica Khemlani
Hey Lauren! It’s absolutely a struggle to even get up and get dressed especially when it’s rainy season lol
Kelly Mccausey
I’m with you on everything but one – the ‘getting dressed’ thing 😉 I’ve been working at home full time for ten years and I’ve never developed the habit. I don’t feel more productive when I am dressed VS chilling in my PJs.
Eliminating distractions is my #1 fave. My ‘line of sight’ has to be neat and organized. My onlin desktop spaces can’t be chaotic, I don’t tolerate having dozens of tabs open in my browsers, etc. I deactivated the chat feature in FB so I’m not getting pulled off for chatter when I’m there to do something for my business.
Productivity in your business is a GIFT to your family – when you show them you’re making the best of your working time, they are less likely to interrupt and more appreciative when you get to walk away and focus on them.
Janica Khemlani
Oh Kelly! Love love love everything that you said – especially the fb chat and zillion of tabs! Lol. I use to work on my PJ’s but one thing I noticed is that I tend to be sleepy and kinda feel lazy so when I get dressed up I’m more likely to work 🙂 Thanks for sharing your thoughts dear.
Dana
I need to get better about automating tasks. I always read about how its such a good idea, but I can never stick to it
Janica Khemlani
Hi Dana! Why are you not able to stick to it? Do you find it confusing? Or you do not know what you can automate?
Dana
Just figuring out which things I can and can’t automate
Janica Khemlani
Dana, thanks for letting me know. I’m halfway through completing a post that will help you on this very question. I’ll let you know once its published 🙂
sweetsnsnarks
It’s so important to have a routine and try to stick with it. As for automating, is there a tool that is free (not free with a trial ?). At this time I can’t spend extra money so automating has been short lived with trial periods.
Janica Khemlani
Hey girl! Totally can relate to that and thanks for reaching out. I’m actually writing a post about it (regarding your Q) so I’m excited to complete this and let you know as soon as I finish this 🙂 I’m trying out a tool that is not under a free trial (and I wanna make sure its working before I recommend it!) I’d love for you to sign up to our newsletter so I you can be notified 🙂
gradybird
I don’t work for home full-time (I wish!) but I feel like these tips are useful for when I’m working on things at home, too! Making sure I have a list is MAJOR for me. I write down EVERYTHING, even “little things” because sometimes you just need a win to gain momentum! Great tips! 🙂
Janica Khemlani
Yes yes yes! When you stop doing even the small things you get stuck! I also write down everything as I am more of a oozy type of gal if I will not write it down I will get lost lol. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Emily
This is a great list! When working from home, it is SO tempting to just stay in jammies all day but I totally agree that getting dressed is a fantastic way to get yourself into the right mindset for working!
Janica Khemlani
HAHA! I SO AGREE with you! Staying in the bed + jammies + food + netflix LOL! Thanks for reading sooo happy you liked it! :*
Miss Piggy
I am planning to have a small business next year and this tips would surely help me and I should take note of eliminating distractions and focus on my endeavors 🙂
Janica Khemlani
Ohhh that sounds amazing! I’m so glad the article was helpful 🙂 Let me know if you need more tips
Janica Khemlani
Hey Robert! Love little chores that you mentioned it does help a lot! Happy you like the post 🙂
Charleen Nicholson
These are actual real tips that i can do today! I’m in a huge slump, unmotivated, and every day feel overwhelmed and unsure if where to start. I know a list is vital, but even making the list seems trying sometimes. PRIORITIZING is my issue, thank you for this. It would be cool if these steps were each on a downloadable pdf list too 😉
Janica Khemlani
Hey Charlene! I can totally resonate with you it’s not a joke to make lists and prioritize stuff so I suggest take it in little by little 🙂 Oh and the downloadable pdf is coming soon on all my post! I’m finishing it all off and upload it <3 I'll send you a copy 😉
Lisa Balthaser
I agree. Creating templates allows you to provide valuable content for your social media platforms with little time and effort each week! I did this last year and drastically reduced the amount of time I spend on this AND got a lot of positive feedback from my followers who love it!
Janica Khemlani
Yes yes yes! Hooray for the time savers 🙂
Shaira Mariel Habon
Great post! I am an entrepreneur too and I find all these tips effective. I agree that planning is the best way to start your work day. I actually wrote something about Time Management here: http://shairahabon.com/2016/08/31/time-management-101-get-things-done/
Janica Khemlani
Hey Shaira! Thanks for reaching out I’m so happy you loved it! I’m hopping on to your site and I am EXCITED to read your post! <3
Stephanay Jnote
This is so needed and well written. Thank you for posting this. Very inspired.
Janica Khemlani
Awww thank you dear! <3
Adelheid Bethanny
These are such good ideas! I get distracted a lot and I find it hard to manage my time between blogging and school. I really needed this. Thanks a lot!
Janica Khemlani
Yey thank you Adelheid! 🙂 Let me know if you need more tips <3
Lester Pioquinto
Awesome list you have here! I want to be productive but most of the time I just find myself procrastinating and not getting the tiniest bit of thing done. I’ll be sure to try the things you’ve enumerated! Hope it works 🙂
Janica Khemlani
Thank you Lester! So happy you liked it! 🙂 Let me know if you need more tips 😉